Mercurial > hg > toybox
annotate www/about.html @ 896:79855f5dc085
Web page tweaks.
author | Rob Landley <rob@landley.net> |
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date | Fri, 10 May 2013 18:54:14 -0500 |
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1 <!--#include file="header.html" --> |
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2 |
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3 <h1>Answers to <a href="#what">What</a>, <a href="#why">Why</a>, |
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4 <a href="#who">Who</a>, <a href="#how">How</a>, <a href="#when">when</a></h1> |
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5 |
226 | 6 <h2><a name="what" />What is ToyBox?</h2> |
7 | |
896 | 8 <p>Toybox provides simple, small, fast, and correct implementations of all the |
9 standard Linux command line utilities.</p> | |
226 | 10 |
896 | 11 <p>Toybox should scale from tiny embedded systems up to general purpose |
12 development environments. We test using it on Android phones in place of | |
13 Toolbox, and the <a href=/aboriginal>Aboriginal Linux</a> project is working | |
14 to get a complete Linux system to rebuild itself from source code using | |
15 toybox.</p> | |
226 | 16 |
896 | 17 <p>Toybox is released under what's been nicknamed a <a href=license.html>"zero |
18 clause BSD" license</a>, essentially public domain with a liability | |
19 disclaimer.</p> | |
226 | 20 |
896 | 21 <p>Toybox can be built as a single multicall ("swiss army knife") executable, |
22 or each command can be built as a traditional independent executable.</p> | |
226 | 23 |
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24 <b><h2><a name="status" />What commands are implemented in Toybox?</h2></b> |
226 | 25 |
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26 <p>The current list of commands implemented by toybox is on the |
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27 <a href=status.html>status page</a>, which is updated each release. |
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28 There is also <a href=roadmap.html>roadmap</a> of planned commands for the |
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29 1.0 release.</p> |
226 | 30 |
31 <p>In general, configuring toybox for "defconfig" enables all the commands | |
32 compete enough to be useful. Configuring "allyesconfig" enables partially | |
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33 implemented commands as well, along with debugging features.</p> |
226 | 34 |
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35 <p>Several toybox commands can do things other vesions can't. For example |
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36 the toybox "df" isn't confused by initramfs the way other df implementations |
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37 are. (If initramfs is visible, df shows it like any other mount point.)</p> |
230 | 38 |
226 | 39 <b><h3>Command Shell</h3></b> |
40 <p>The Toybox Shell (toysh) aims to be a reasonable bash replacement. It | |
41 implements the "sh" and "toysh" commands, plus the built-in commands "cd" and | |
42 "exit". This is the largest single sub-project in toybox.</p> | |
43 | |
44 <p>The following additional commands may be built into the shell (but not as | |
45 separate executables): cd, exit, if, while, for, function, fg, bg, jobs, source, | |
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46 <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/alias.html">alias</a>, |
226 | 47 export, set, unset, read, trap, and exec. (Note: not done yet.)</p> |
48 | |
49 </ul> | |
50 | |
51 <h2><a name="commands" />Which commands are planned?</h2> | |
52 | |
53 <p>The toybox <a href=todo.txt>todo list</a> mentions many potential commands | |
54 which may be added to this project. (Whether that file is readable by anybody | |
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55 but the project's maintainer is open to debate.) The roadmap wiki in the |
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56 nav bar has a more human readable version.</p> |
226 | 57 |
58 <p>The criteria for a toybox 1.0 release is that a system built from just the | |
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59 Linux kernel, toybox, C library (such as uClibc), and a compiler (such as |
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60 tinycc) can rebuild itself from source code.</p> |
226 | 61 |
62 <b><h3>Relevant Standards</h3></b> | |
63 | |
64 <p>Most commands are implemented according to | |
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65 <a href=http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/idx/utilities.html>The |
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66 Single Unix Specification version 4</a> where applicable. This does not mean |
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67 that Toybox is implementing every SUSv4 utility: some such as SCCS and ed are |
226 | 68 obsolete, while others such as c99 are outside the scope of the project. |
69 Toybox also isn't implementing full internationalization support: it should be | |
70 8-bit clean and handle UTF-8, but otherwise we leave this to X11 and higher | |
805
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71 layers. And some things (like $CDPATH support in "cd") await a good |
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72 explanation of why to bother with them. (The standard provides an important |
226 | 73 frame of reference, but is not infallable set of commandments to be blindly |
74 obeyed.)</p> | |
75 | |
76 <p>The other major sources of commands are the Linux man pages, and testing | |
77 the behavior of existing commands (although not generally looking at their | |
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78 source code), including the commands in Android's toolbox. SUSv4 does not |
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79 include many basic commands such as "mount", "init", and "mke2fs", which are |
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80 kind of nice to have.</p> |
226 | 81 |
82 <b><h2><a name="downloads" />Download</h2></b> | |
83 | |
84 <p>This project is maintained as a mercurial archive. To get a copy of the | |
85 current development version, either use mercurial (hg clone | |
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86 http://landley.net/hg/toybox) or click on one of the zip/gz/bz2 links |
226 | 87 at the top of the <a href=/hg/toybox>mercurial archive browser</a> page to get |
88 an archive of the appropriate version. Click | |
89 <a href="/hg/toybox?cmd=tags">tags</a> to see all the tagged release | |
90 versions ("tip" is the current development version).</p> | |
91 | |
92 <p>The maintainer's <a href=/notes.html>development log</a> and the project's | |
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93 <a href=http://lists.landley.net/listinfo.cgi/toybox-landley.net>mailing |
226 | 94 list</a> are also good ways to track what's going on with the project.</p> |
95 | |
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96 <!-- |
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97 <b><h2><a name="why">Why do toybox?</h2></b> |
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98 |
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99 <p>Because smart phones are replacing the PC, and Android must become |
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100 self-hosting to beat the iPhone in establishing the new standard.</p> |
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101 |
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102 <p>This is the third such major transition in computer history: |
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103 (mainframe->minicomputer->microcomputer->smartphone). |
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104 The mainframe was replaced by the minicomputer, which was replaced by |
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105 the microcomputer (renamed the "personal" computer to make clear you could |
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106 access porn through it), which is being replaced by the smartphone. Nobody |
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107 needed to wait for printouts from a big computer in another building when they |
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108 could use a little one down the hall. Then nobody needed the big computer |
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109 down the hall when they had a little one on their desk. Now nobody needs the |
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110 big computer on their desk when they have a little one in their pocket.</p> |
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111 |
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112 <p>The new platform displaces the old when it becomes natively self hosting. |
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113 Often they leverage existing technology: just as early microcmputers used |
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114 teletypes and televisions for output, phones can use |
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115 <a href=http://us.toshiba.com/accessory/PA3575U-1PRP>USB docking stations</a> |
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116 to access a bigger screen, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc. Plugging a phone into |
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117 USB even charges the battery. But to use the phone as a development |
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118 workstation, it needs more software, such as a Posix command line, a native |
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119 compiler, and drivers for the USB peripherals.</p> |
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120 |
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121 <p>The new platform also eventually weans itself off of its dominant language. |
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122 Dalvik is to Android what ROM Basic was to the PC: something it must |
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123 eventually outgrow. Thus toybox is native C code, not Java.</p> |
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124 |
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125 <b><h3>So why aren't self-hosting smartphones attracting more attention?</h3></b> |
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126 |
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127 <p>Because most people are focusing on the legacy platforms, not on the new |
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128 stuff. Existing multi-billion dollar industries are getting evicted from their |
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129 decades-old established niche, and are trying to spin the transition as an |
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130 opportunity instead of a forced march onto reservations. When elephants run |
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131 from mice, it's easier to notice the elephants.</p> |
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132 |
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133 <p>History's our guide here: the previous technology always gets kicked up into |
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134 the "server space", moving from "the thing you stood in front of waiting for |
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135 your printout" to "that thing you sometimes accessed remotely via the new |
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136 computer". This time around they're calling it "the cloud" and pretending it's |
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137 a big deal; it's really just a beowulf cluster with a layer of |
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138 virtualization/containerization software implementing hotplug hardware and |
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139 live migration to provide cheap |
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140 commodity processing power that dominant players (like amazon) literally |
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141 give away for free. These old machines become secondary, only |
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142 accessed through the new machines users now directly interact with.</p> |
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143 |
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144 <p>Since there's only one server space, the mainframe ate the minicomputer in |
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145 the 1980's (when DEC went under), and this time around "the cloud" seems to be |
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146 eating the mainframe (IBM ain't happy). The inevitable consolidation leads |
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147 to drama, but doesn't mean much in the long run.</p> |
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148 |
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149 <p><a href=http://landley.net/notes-2012.html#12-07-2012>For more |
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150 on this topic...</a></p> |
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151 |
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152 <b><h3><a name="why_android">Why is Android important?</h2></b> |
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153 |
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154 <p>Major hardware transitions introduce |
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155 <a href=http://landley.net/notes-2011.html#26-06-2011>new software |
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156 standards</a> which are extremely sticky once |
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157 established, due to network effects.</p> |
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158 |
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159 <p>Last time around, the PC was stuck with |
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160 a proprietary operating system (DOS/Windows) which is still dominant on that |
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161 hardware platform's descendants 30 years later. This time around, the choice |
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162 is between Android (a Linux derivative) and iPhone (a closed BSD fork ala |
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163 SunOS, put out by a company already engaged in multiple aggressive IP lawsuits). |
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164 The main difference between Apple and Microsoft is that Apple is competent.</p> |
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165 |
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166 <p>And yes, it has to be Android, it won't be vanilla Linux any time soon, |
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167 for three reasons. 1) <a href=http://landley.net/notes-2010.html#13-08-2010>Open |
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168 Source can't do user interfaces</a> for about the same reason wikipedia can't |
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169 write a novel, 2) it's too late to the |
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170 party (a 5 year headstart is forever in computers), 3) preinstalls matter |
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171 (GPLv3 spooked all the hardware vendors, Android has a "no GPL in |
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172 userspace" policy which is rigidly enforced).</p> |
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173 |
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174 <p>And "any time soon" is important: attempting to displace an existing |
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175 entrenched de-facto standard is what linux has spent the last 20 |
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176 years trying (and failing) to do on the desktop. Spending another 20 |
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177 years fighting for less than 1% of the phone market would just be sad.</p> |
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178 |
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179 <b><h3><a name="how_google">How is Google less evil than Apple?</h3></b> |
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180 |
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181 <p>Because Android isn't Google's core business, attaching advertising to large |
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182 scale data searches is. Android and Chrome and such are Google's way of |
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183 "commoditizing their co-factors" to drive down the price of ingredients |
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184 to their core business.</p> |
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185 |
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186 <p>Thus Google is pursuing a commodity market and encouring as many vendors as |
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187 possible to participate, not to control the new space but to hold it open, |
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188 so that its search products are widely available without requiring the |
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189 permission of some other monopoly gatekeeper. Apple is attemping to corner the |
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190 smartphone market and extract monopoly rents, excluding all |
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191 vendors except itself.</p> |
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192 |
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193 <p>So if Google wins we get a commodity market in smartphone/tablet software, |
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194 and may be able to open it further in future. If Apple wins we get a proprietary |
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195 smartphone/tablet OS with a single monopoly vendor, which is likely to close it |
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196 further.</p> |
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197 |
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198 <b><h3>Why not just use BusyBox?</h3></b> |
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199 |
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200 <p>Android can't. Busybox predates android |
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201 by many years; if they were ever going to ship it they'd have done so by |
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202 now. Android has had a "No GPL in Userspace" policy ever since GPLv3 |
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203 came out (before the first Android phone shipped), and they mean it.</p> |
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204 |
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205 <p>Toybox also has a better design and simpler code. I did both |
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206 and this is the one I enjoy banging on; I tried to contribute a few things |
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207 to busybox and it was like crawling through a thornbush of #ifdefs. Busybox |
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208 development is just no fun anymore.</p> |
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209 |
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210 --> |
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211 |
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212 <b><h2><a name="toycans" />What's the toybox logo image?</h2></b> |
227 | 213 |
214 <p>It's <a href=toycans-big.jpg>carefully stacked soda cans</a>. Specifically, | |
215 it's a bunch of the original "Coke Zero" and "Pepsi One" cans, circa 2006, | |
228 | 216 stacked to spell out the binary values of the ascii string "Toybox", with |
217 null terminator at the bottom. (The big picture's on it's side because | |
218 the camera was held sideways to get a better shot.)</p> | |
219 | |
220 <p>No, it's not photoshopped, I actually had these cans until a coworker | |
221 who Totally Did Not Get It <sup><font size=-3><a href=http://www.timesys.com>tm</a></font></sup> threw them out one day after I'd gone home, | |
222 thinking they were recycling. (I still have two of each kind, but | |
223 Pepsi One seems discontinued and Coke Zero switched its can color | |
224 from black to grey, presumably in celebration. It was fun while it lasted...)</p> | |
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225 |
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226 <!--#include file="footer.html" --> |